The Anambra State Police Command has uncovered an elaborate plot involving a staged kidnapping allegedly orchestrated by an 18-year-old woman and her boyfriend to extort money from her parents.

Police spokesman SP Tochukwu Ikenga said operatives of the Rapid Response Squad in Awkuzu arrested two suspects, identified as 25-year-old Chinedu Chineye Nwobi and 25-year-old Okwudili Nweke, after tracking a reported abduction to a forest hideout.

The supposed victim, Miss Mmesoma Ifediora, was found unharmed in a bushy area locally known as Malaysia Forest at Iruayika, Awkuzu. According to the police, she later confessed that the abduction was a hoax planned with her boyfriend, identified as Obiora Okoye, also known as Stainless.

Investigators said the pair allegedly intended to extort ₦3 million from her parents and had already succeeded in getting ₦240,000 paid into her Opay account before the scheme collapsed. Ikenga explained that Mmesoma told detectives she and her boyfriend swore an oath of secrecy and moved between locations for about two months to sustain the illusion that she was being held by kidnappers.

Police said Obiora fled on sighting operatives closing in on the hideout and is currently on the run. A manhunt has been launched to track him and any other accomplices.

Items recovered from the scene included 10 SIM cards from different networks, an MTN 4G WiFi device, two female underwear, a native juju calabash, a dual-SIM mobile phone, a necklace, a white bandage allegedly used to blindfold and tie the victim, and several computer cables. Investigators believe the assortment of SIM cards and devices was used to mask communications and frustrate tracking efforts.

In a separate operation, the same Rapid Response Squad arrested 24-year-old suspect Chukwuebuka Eze, described by police as a gang leader linked to a kidnapping in Obosi. The victim in that case was reportedly released after a ₦150,000 ransom was paid, while valuables were also taken.

Police said Eze was found with a locally made double-barrel shotgun, five live cartridges and a Redmi mobile phone believed to belong to one of the kidnap victims. He allegedly confessed to involvement in the Obosi incident and other criminal activities, and named additional gang members who are now being sought.

Ikenga said all arrested suspects will be charged to court at the conclusion of investigations, adding that recent breakthroughs followed intensified intelligence-led operations and closer collaboration with residents and other security agencies.